3 days in Paris

See what appeals to you from the AT A GLANCE section:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/paris

Here's a thought: Why not look at an on-line guide or buy a guidebook and see what appeals to YOU in Paris instead of asking a bunch of strangers on the internet what they think you should see.

I have just returned from a week in Paris, my first time. I loved it.

I did The Toot Bus and very glad that I did so. It gave me a great overview of Paris. There is also a Big Bus which is very similar from what i can tell.

HoHo buses are not for everyone but it was for me

Is Day 1 your arrival day from the US? Asking because Jet lag/travel tiredness might impact what is fun for you on that day!

When are you traveling? What days of the week will you be there?

Do you like museums? Churches? Gardens? Markets?

My visits are museum heavy so my approach does not appeal to everyone.

Museums: The biggies are of course
- The Louvre (Mona Lisa, Code of Hammurabi, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Egyptian and Greek stuff). This needs a timed entry.

• The Orsay Museum (5th floor is Impressionist paintings thru Van Gogh). This also needs a timed entry

• The Orangerie (Monet's Water Lilies - huge canvases in 2 rooms shaped like a figure 8 plus a downstairs gallery of other painters). This also needs a timed entry.

• The Cluny - Museum of the Middle Ages. No timed entry needed

• Les Invalides/ The Army Museum - Excellent galleries for WWII ad WWI plus Napoleon's tomb

• Carnavalet - The Museum of the history of Paris. This is free, no timed entry needed and closed on Mondays.

Gardens:

• The Luxembourg Garden
• The Tuileries
• The Jardin des Plantes (botanical gardens)
• Random little pocket gardens everywhere!

Churches:

• Notre Dame (free tours in English every day by cathedral volunteers. IF you are interested I'll post the website)
• Abbey of Saint-Germain-des Pres -Basilica of Saint-Denis (where French Kings and queens are buried including Marie Antoinette)
• Saint-Etienne-du-Mont - featured in the movie Midnight in Paris

Tell us what sounds like fun for you! To me there are no "musts" - you don't even have to do any of these to have a great time in Paris!

Pam has given a lot of the same thoughts that I have, but there is probably more in her post than you can reasonably do it just 3 full days (4 nights).

I asked a similar Q to yours about one year ago, though it was for our third trip to Paris, not our first, and we just had 2-1/2 days. See https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/paris-suggestions-s-il-vous-plait

With three trips to Paris now under my belt and 15 days there, I would suggest …

• Just one or two of the big, famous museums. (Louvre, d’Orsay, Orangerie)
• A couple of the smaller museums (ones we’ve enjoyed are the Petit Palais, Jewish History and Art, Carnevalet, Musee du Luxembourg, Jacquemart-Andre and Cluny. One of these days, hopefully, I’ll get to the Rodin and Marmottan)
• A couple of neighborhoods (beyond the Left Bank just across from Île de la Cité) to walk through, stop in to see shops, grab a pastry and coffee or a gelato. Be open to dining (lunch or dinner) at a restaurant that simply looks and smells good and that has happy, lively diners. The city’s official tourist website allows you to look at Paris by neighborhood. See https://parisjetaime.com/eng/things-to-do-in-paris/walks-in-paris-i038
• A couple of parks to walk through. (Tuileries, Luxembourg Gardens, Jardins des Plantes, Parc Monceau, )
• A couple to four of the Passages Couvertes. Enjoy little book shops, art galleries and more tucked away in those covered passages. See https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/unusual-paris-the-covered-passages-a1801
• A couple of churches. Perhaps music at one. You don’t really have the time for both St. Chapelle and Notre Dame. Sunday morning organ recital at St. Sulpice? St Etienne du Mont in the 5th Arrondissement or St Germain des Pres in the Sixth?
• The Eiffel Tower somehow. Maybe a ticketed elevator ride up it, maybe by going up the stairs to the first or second level, maybe by just getting a picnic on Rue Cler that you eat on the lawn of the Champs Mar near the Tower’s base as you gaze at it, maybe a cruise on the Seine (my bottom recommendation) or maybe by viewing it at night from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Study guidebooks and maps and plan your days geographically. For example, Notre Dame in the morning (first thing) then head off nearby to … the Marais neighborhood, Place des Vosges, Carnevalet Museum or Jewish History and Art Museum or Maison Victor Hugo.

Alternatively, after Notre Dame, head past the Sorbonne to Rue Mouffetard for lunch, then St Etienne, the Pantheon, on to the Luxembourg Gardens or the Cluny Museum - or do that in reverse and end up at Rue Mouffetard at dinner time.

LATE NOTE another example. If you go to the Louvre, two of the Passages Couvertes are quite nearby … Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert. So are the Tuileries.

Whatever you choose, group your sights and activities so you are strolling from one to the next and you are not spending excessive time cross-crossing a large city.

When I have little time in a new place I try to plan varied things -- a church, a museum, a park, an interesting cafe etc. And I organize days in 3 parts morning afternoon and evening and have one focus for each. Then a couple of other things that are located near those things to do if I have time. for me, less is more.

What is your dream of Paris - start with that.

Have you read through any guidebooks? That is the best place to begin. Without any context the answers you get could be found in any guidebooks available at your library. Please provide some infro regarding your interests, budget constraints (if any), physical issues (if any)....etc. Do you have 3 full days or are you counting arrival day (and/or departure day)? Do you mind walking from place to place? It is hard to help with a vague question. And what you SHOULD see will vary based on each person's likes and expectations. There are hundreds of choices out there with a world city such as Paris.